Bridge Mode Firewall Mobility

ABSTRACT

Mobility of firewall rules for clients moving among bridge AP nodes in a wireless network. APs operate in bridge mode. A wireless client C is associated with a first AP. As part of that association, the first AP establishes and maintains personal firewall rules and state for client C. When wireless client C associates with a second AP in the L2 domain, the second AP sends session request to other APs. This may be in the form of a multicast message. Optionally, the second AP may send a unicast message to the first AP indicating that client C has associated with the second AP. APs receiving the multicast session request message for client C check their tables to see if they have stored firewall or other state for client C. APs having storied firewall or other state for client C send session response messages to the second AP containing stored firewall sessions and other state for client C. When the second AP receives a session response, it sends an acknowledgement to the AP which sent the response. When the AP, such as the first AP, receives the acknowledgement, it may remove all stored state for client C. If the second AP receives session response messages for client C from multiple APs, it acknowledges each, and creates session entries and state using the oldest rules in the session response messages. Flags may be logically ORed together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless digital networks, and in particular, to the problem of handling personal firewalls when wireless clients move from one access point to another in a wireless network.

Digital networks have rapidly become the backbone of many enterprises, small and large. The wireless aspects of these networks are becoming more and more important, as is providing seamless service to mobile wireless clients. Such wireless clients may be as simple as an individual operating a wireless handheld scanner taking inventory in a large warehouse, or may be more demanding such as a mobile Wi-Fi telephone user walking between campus buildings.

In some network configurations, it may be advantageous to have wireless access points (APs) operating in bridge mode (as compared to tunnel mode). In bridge-mode operation of a wireless SSID, the AP decrypts arriving wireless packets, converts them from 802.11 packets into 802.3 packets, and bridges those packets out on its wired interface. The AP also applies stateful firewall rules to the traffic for each wireless client, often referred to as a personal firewall.

The stateful firewall may apply a restrictive role for a bridge-client, allowing for only voip (Voice Over IP) or ftp or http traffic, and denying everything all other traffic. In advanced firewalls, sessions such as voip (such as sip/sccp) or ftp begin with the initial control packets exchanged on a well-known port. The payload within these control packets contain information of the data-port to use for the actual data transfer following the control packets. A deep-inspecting stateful firewall can look into those control packets, identify the derived ports to be used later on, and transparently create firewall sessions for these derived sessions to be allowed. This can only be done by snooping the initial control packets.

A client might connect to a different AP's SSID voluntarily due to mobility or involuntarily due to RF or other load-balancing issues. Such a client having any existing derived firewall sessions will have a session drop as the new AP does not know the specific firewall sessions to be allowed. So the call or ftp-transfer as the session might get disconnected and user will have to re-initiate such a call or transfer.

One solution to the problem is to route all client traffic back through the original AP, applying firewall rules at that original AP. This is unwise.

This problem does not exist in tunnel-mode operation of SSIDs, as all firewall enforcement happens on a shared controller, where the sessions are maintained centrally. In such controller-based architectures any amount of mobility of a client from one AP to another will not make the controller lose the session state.

What is needed is a better way of managing personal firewall rules when clients move from one bridge AP to another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be best understood by referring to the following description and accompanying drawings that are used to illustrate embodiments of the invention in which:

FIG. 1 shows devices in a network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods of managing mobility of firewall rules in bridge APs in a wireless network.

According to the present invention, an access point (AP) operating in bridge mode provides personal firewall rules to connected clients. When a client C connected to a first AP moves to a second AP in the same L2 domain, existing firewall rules for the client from the first AP are transferred and put in place on the second AP. When bridge client C moves from a first AP to a second AP, by associating with the second AP, the second AP sends a session request for client C to other APs on the network. This may be a multicast message. Optionally, all APs in this L2 domain use this session request to record the second AP as the new home AP for client C. The old home AP for client C, in this case the first AP, on receiving the session request for client C sends AP2 a session response with the firewall session entries and user table entries with client C. The second AP acknowledges (ACK) the response. The first AP can then delete entries for client C from its tables so that only one AP in the L2 domain has state for client C. If any other APs in the L2 domain have sessions for client C, those APs send that information as session responses to the second AP. The second AP acknowledges these messages. The APs receiving ACKs can clean up state for client C. The second AP builds firewall rules for the wireless client using received session response messages. If the second AP receives multiple messages, it uses the oldest rules. Flags may be logically ORed together.

FIG. 1 shows a network in which access points (APs) 100 are purpose-made digital devices, each containing a processor 110, memory hierarchy 120, and input-output interfaces 130. In one embodiment of the invention, a MIPS-class processor such as those from Cavium or RMI is used. Other suitable processors, such as those from Acorn, Intel, or AMD may also be used. The memory hierarchy 120 traditionally comprises fast read/write memory for holding processor data and instructions while operating, and nonvolatile memory such as EEPROM and/or Flash for storing files and system startup information. Wired interfaces 140 are typically IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interfaces, used for wired connections to other network devices such as switches, or to a controller. Wireless interfaces 130 may be WiMAX, 3G, 4G, and/or IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces. In one embodiment of the invention, APs operate under control of a LINUX operating system, with purpose-built programs providing host controller, LD, and access point functionality. Access points 100 typically communicate with a controller 400, which is also a purpose-built digital device having a processor 410, memory hierarchy 420, and commonly a plurality of wired interfaces 440. Controller 400 provides access to network 500, which may be a private intranet or the public internet.

Wireless client device 200 has a similar architecture, chiefly differing in input/output devices; a laptop computer will usually contain a large LCD, while a handheld wireless scanner will typically have a much smaller display, but contain a laser barcode scanner.

According to the present invention, APs 100 are operated in bridge mode. APs 100 a, 100 b, 100 c are preferably in the same L2 domain.

Assume wireless client 200 is associated with AP 100 a. AP 100 a maintains a stateful personal firewall 150 and additional state for client 200. The stateful firewall may be set up to only allow traffic on http ports, voip ports, or combinations. For advanced stateful firewalls with deep packet inspection capabilities, the firewall may be able to derive ports to be used from inspecting control packets and identifying sessions, opening necessary ports.

When client 200 associates with AP 100 b, it is desirable to move these firewall sessions so that they do not have to be re-learned at the new AP.

According to the present invention, when client 200 associates with AP 100 b, AP 100 b sends session request for client 200 to other APs. In one embodiment of the invention, this is sent as a multicast message. As a multicast message, this session request will be sent to all APs in the L2 domain. It should be noted that if client 200 is associating with an AP for the first time, this multicast session request will not produce any responses.

According to the example given, with client 200 moving from AP 100 a to AP 100 b by associating with AP 100 b, AP 100 b sends out a multicast session request for client 200. AP 100 a receives this multicast message and identifies client 200 as one of its clients. This may be done for example by including the MAC address of client 200 in the session request.

On receiving the session request, AP 100 a recognizes client 200 as one of its clients. AP 100 a sends a session response to AP 100 b containing the firewall and user 0information for client 200.

Optionally, AP 100 b sends a unicast message to AP 100 a informing AP 100 a of the new association with client 200. This unicast message may be sent prior to sending the multicast session request. AP 100 b has the identity of the first AP, AP 100 a, as it was identified as the home AP for client 200.

AP 100 b sends an acknowledgment (ACK) for each session response received.

When AP 100 a receives the ACK for its session response, AP 100 a may clean out its tables, removing any state saved for client 200.

It may be the case that multiple APs have stored state for client 200. This may occur, for example, if multicast session requests are missed as client 200 associates with new APs. Assume in this caste that AP 100 c has some stored state for client 200. When AP 100 c receives the multicast session request for client 200 from AP 100 b, it sends a session response to AP 100 b with firewall and state information for client 200. This is received and acknowledged by AP 100 b. AP 100 c on receipt of the ACK may remove its stored state for client 200.

AP 100 b creates firewall 150 rules for client 200 using the session response messages received. In the case where an AP such as AP 100 b receives multiple session responses, AP 100 b creates session entries using the oldest rules present. Rule flags may be ORed together.

The present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a controller or access point with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the device such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention also may be embedded in nontransitory fashion in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

This invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention. 

1. A method of operating a plurality of wireless access points operating in bridge more in a network comprising: a wireless client associating with an access point, the access point sending a session request to the other access points, the access point receiving session responses from other access points containing active firewall sessions for the wireless client, and the access point configuring firewall sessions and state for the wireless client from the received session responses.
 2. The method of claim 1 where the wireless access points are part of the same L2 domain.
 3. The method of claim 1 where the session request is sent as a multicast message.
 4. The method of claim 1 where multiple session responses are combined to build firewall rules for the wireless client using the oldest rules in the session responses first.
 5. A machine readable medium having a set of instructions stored in nonvolatile form therein, which when executed on a plurality of wireless access points of a network causes a set of operations to be performed comprising: an access point sending out a session request to the other access points on the network when a wireless client associates with it, the other access points responding with session responses containing information on active firewall sessions for the wireless client, and the access point configuring firewall sessions and state for the wireless client based on the session responses. 